Burnt to his memory banks
by Lohis
Summary: ARMADA. Hot Shot, Billy and Fred partake in a mud street rally. Sadly, things don't go as planned. One-Shot, darkish. Wheeljack, Hot Shot, Billy & Fred.


_**Another one of one-shot ideas my friend gave me. I hope you enjoy it!  
**__**Disclaimer: I don't own anything  
**__**Rating: T ( for cursing and darkish themes)**_

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There was a dull ache in his optics. His head was pounding, as if something was trying to get in or out. Which one, Hot Shot wasn't sure. The yellow Autobot just laid there, his CPU whirring into action, recollecting the memory pieces before unconsciousness had hit him. There had been a bang, yes, it still echoed in his audio receptors. There had been a feeling of weightlessness, as if the very ground beneath him had grumbled into oblivion. His optics shot open.

By the spark of Primus it _had_!

Hot Shot sat up his ventilation system whining in protest. Along with the flush of Energon the young 'bot got his share of the memories.

Billy and Fred had been able to talk him into this mud street rally in a nearby town. They had warped as soon as Hot Shot's shift had ended. The young Autobot had been eager, for there really was no one in the base capable of matching his driving abilities –given that Blurr wasn't counted in.

The Autobot jerked. Where were the two humans?

He glanced around. Tall evergreen trees shadowed over him, hiding the light blue sky from his optics. The grass, still wet from the pouring rain the day before, squished underneath him. This wasn't where he had been driving… Where was the asphalt? And the wooden bridge?

_Bridge… Explosion… Falling… _

The Autobot shivered, his optics darting upwards and beyond the trees. There, hundreds of meters away from him, a smoldering bridge was silhouetted against the pale mountainside. The young soldier pushed himself to his feet, staggering a bit and began running towards the ever thickening smoke pillar.

Arriving on the scene his scent receptors whirred making him want to hurl out his Energon tanks. Burning flesh, its sweet scent snaked around in his systems. Hot Shot shuddered. The yellow Autobot had seen many battles and many lost comrades, some he had even held in his arms as they slowly offlined and joined the AllSpark. But this…

The young soldier, with small shaky steps, moved around the burning debris, spark clinging to his throat. The memories of him and Wheeljack, back on Cybertron, in their final meet before the inevitable happened flooded his CPU and spun around and around, again and again and again, tighter and tighter until the ghosting heat and pain darkened his optics making him tumble down. Sprawled by the quickly blackening bridge, Hot Shot's mind lost its contact with reality.

_'_… _Wheeljack…. Why did you shoot?'_

* * *

"Hot Shot!"

"Hot Shot, wake up!"

His CPU thundered with pain. His systems diagnostics flared red, indicating system failures in scent and audio receptors as well as memory bank glitches.

"Hey, Hot Shot, C'mon!"

The Autobot's optics flickered online, baby blue light shining in the dusk filled mountain range. Two, one… No, two small shadows loomed in his vision.

The sports car groaned. "What happened?"

"You were pushed off the road," Fred said, "you took a roll down the side to a lower flat of the mountain."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you hit a rock and transformed and we went flying out," Billy continued. "We survived with a few scrapes."

"And I lost my bag of chips…"

"Shut up, Fred! And then you just laid there. You okay?" The tall boy asked eyeing the Autobot cautiously. "You took quite a hit."

Hot Shot groaned again and sat up, one servo stroking the back of his helm as the other one gently pushed the kids off of his chest. His ventilation system whined into action.

"Did anyone get the license plate of that car?"

"Oh, nope, but it was a sleek dark car with an awesome scar-like thing on its hood!" Fred exclaimed face beaming, fists balled as to emphasize his point.

_'So…he was here…'_

"And the bridge? Has it stopped burning? Are you guys okay? No burnt marks?"

"Huh?" The two boys looked at each other.

"The bridge is just fine," Billy said pointing at the wooden structure some ways away. "And we're fine."

Hot Shot looked the way Billy pointed. True enough; the dark wooden bridge was still stretching over the chasm, nothing threatening it in any way.

Hot Shot exhaled deeply, lost in his thoughts.

"Hey, 'Shot?" The auburn haired boy asked. "You sure you didn't damage any of your systems when you fell?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, if that's the case… We better get going or the others will get worried," Billy stated.

Fred blinked. "You sounded just like Rad…"

"No I didn't."

Hot Shot smiled: "You did, and you're right." Then adding apologizingly: "Sorry you didn't get to finish the race."

"Nah, there's always a next time."

"Billy, now you sound like Alexis…"

"Shut up!"

"But you did…"

"Fred, just shut up!"

The Autobot chuckled.

"But Billy…" The arguing went on.

Hot Shot flexed his fingers. _'Whatever that was… A dream or fact…' _He looked at the rising night sky, at the twinkle of the stars. _'I hope we can settle our score.'_

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**_Comments, ideas, requests and reviews are all appreciated. :)_**


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